According to President Obama, smoking pot isn’t a more perilous prospect, health-wise, than drinking alcohol. Of course, Obama, in an interview with The New Yorker, couched this statement by issuing a series of responsible-sounding disclaimers.

A study released this month found a possible connection between moderate drinking and the ability to fend off germs. In other words, feel free to savor that glass of champagne as you toast to a healthy new year.

Current minimum wage earners can’t make it above the poverty line, but this wasn’t the case before the ’80s; a radioactive bomb can be used to clear out the AIDS virus in the body; meanwhile, a new study finds a correlation between intelligence and drinking. These discoveries and more after the jump.

Many Dutch citizens are attempting to “de-baptize” themselves to protest Pope Benedict’s anti-gay marriage declarations; a national database of gun owners may have helped prevent the Newtown shooting; and although the media insist the president is giving in to the Republicans’ demands to make cuts to Social Security, Obama’s been trying to reduce it all along. These discoveries and more after the jump.

What’s next? Amid all the munchie-themed jokes from reporters, political elites and late-night comedians, this remains the overarching question after Coloradans voted overwhelmingly to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana in the same way alcohol is already legalized, regulated and taxed.

While studying the relationship between stress and alcohol in fruit flies, a group of neuroscientists found that sexually frustrated male flies were more likely to prefer food spiked with alcohol than their carnally satisfied peers, suggesting that humans aren’t the only species to self-medicate.

Snoop Dogg would like to speak to President Obama on behalf of a friend of his, and her name is Mary Jane. The pot-friendly rapper, né Calvin Broadus, also has visualized how this meeting would ideally take place at the White House.

Given this year’s political turmoil in Egypt, it’s not surprising that, as interim leader Kamal el-Ganzouri tearfully lamented at a news conference Sunday, tourism in the North African nation has taken a big hit.

Three recent news headlines illustrate how shameless some American officials have become when it comes to breaking the rules or messing up and pretending that everything is still OK. They also prove that in modern America, it’s possible for screwups to continue their lives and careers with hardly a blip.

Soon, Americans won’t be able to hide from the sometimes dismaying nutritional readouts on menus at their favorite chain restaurants—and even on some vending machines—but they still can in the soothing, darkened space of their local movie theater.

As if driving drunk wasn’t deadly enough. On Monday the Office of Secure Transportation released a report spanning 2007 to 2009 that disclosed some seriously unsettling findings about drivers hired to tote nuclear weapons and materials around the country ... (continued)

Fans of Four Loko alcoholic “energy drinks” are about to discover that their favored concoction, which blends the downer that is alcohol with the upper that is caffeine, is about to lose that speedy sensation, thanks to the vigilant work of the FDA.

There has been some good news regarding women and booze of late. Back in August, a study out of Norway explored the potentially fortuitous link between drinking and intelligence, and now there’s another that ... (continued)

Startling but true, according to one of those expert sources that make these kinds of pronouncements: Alcohol is more harmful to both users and those around them than crack cocaine. It’s worse than heroin too.

In a surprising new study, a fake scientist consulted by the source that at least admits it makes everything up, the Onion News Network, suggests that Americans perform the bulk of their fitness regimes while in a state of acute inebriation.

A study has found that people who drink a lot of alcohol tend to live longer than people who never touch the stuff. So much for not burning the candle at both ends. But don’t go crashing that frat party just yet: People who drink in moderation, as in one to three drinks a day, live longest of all.

There are three kinds of studies we hear about. (1) Something incredibly obvious turns out to be true. (2) Something you like is good for you. (3) Something you like is bad for you. Obviously we prefer No. 2s, like this study out of Norway that says drinking wine—especially if you’re a woman—might make you smarter.

This could be a case in which the cure may cause problems above and beyond the severity of the symptoms, but a study that sounds like more fun than others we’ve heard of has found that alcohol consumption may help ease the pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis, as well as check the disease itself.

File this under scary stories about drugs that lead to bad policy, but U.S. health officials just announced that about 7 percent of 12-year-olds have tried to get loaded by inhaling household chemicals. The little huffers far outnumbered junior pot smokers (1.4 percent), but, even at this age, alcohol is America’s drug of choice.

Computer security experts have identified a malicious virus that steals your credit card information and orders Mario Batali kitchenware, usually after 2 in the morning. Either that or you were just drunk. Here’s the full story from the satire masters at The Onion.

A transfer of billions of dollars in federal aid from public projects in Puerto Rico to one of the world’s largest liquor conglomerates over the next 30 years continues to move forward without any objection from Congress.

Is it unfair to bring up Mel Gibson’s troubles? After all, it’s been more than three years since the superstar allegedly blamed those “fucking Jews” for “all the wars in the world.” Gibson loses it in this interview, saying “I’ve done all the necessary mea culpas.”

While seemingly intuitive, it’s bit frightening to see the correlation so clearly illustrated: A graphic, covering a 12-year period, shows the tie between Ohio’s unemployment rate and the amount of alcohol purchased. With unemployment and booze consumption at their contemporary highs, many are wondering about the public health effects of unemployment on those out of work.

The Spanish government is cracking down on television advertising that promotes weight-loss products and other related goods and services, including plastic surgery, by creating legislation that would bar the ads from being shown until after 10 p.m.

Sure, it behooved our Neolithic ancestors to band together and form proto-civilizations for many reasons, but one main motivation, according to archaeologist Patrick McGovern—who works, and we kid you not, at the University of Pennsylvania Museum’s Biomolecular Archaeology Laboratory for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages, and Health—was the time-honored pursuit of alcoholic intoxication.

The vice president’s “suave original personality” and “sly trademark grin” might make him an excellent pitchman. The Onion mocked up this joke ad campaign for Hennessy and it kind of works—almost too well to be funny.

At a time of the year when alcohol consumption is traditionally up in Russia, a campaign against alcoholism launched recently by President Dmitry Medvedev will substantially raise the price of vodka. The cost of the cheapest half liter will increase to at least 89 rubles (about $3) from about 50 rubles.

News flash: Adding caffeine to alcoholic drinks may lead consumers to underestimate how drunk they are. The Food and Drug Administration is getting to the bottom of this potential health issue by ordering close to 30 manufacturers of caffeinated adult beverages to prove that their drinks are safe—or else.

Watching your environmental impact is almost as important as watching your liver impact. To that end, Greenopia has rated “15 of the largest breweries in the world.” Guinness, Heineken, Coors, Sam Adams and Tecate all got the lowest possible rating, while Fat Tire’s maker, New Belgium, took home four out of four green leaves (adorable). Remember to consume environmentally friendly beer responsibly.

A study published in The Lancet medical journal concludes that the effects of alcohol should be viewed in the same light as the effects of smoking. Alcohol consumption is linked to one in every 25 deaths worldwide, the study said.

The number of U.S. soldiers enrolled in alcohol dependency or abuse programs has doubled since 2003, which isn’t surprising considering GIs are deploying on more and longer tours with less down time between. And these stats are probably hiding a bigger problem in consumption, considering that commanders have to be notified if someone is in treatment. So what of those that aren’t seeking help?

Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi just got back to the States following six years in Iran, the last four of which she spent in prison under an allegation of spying—a charge she initially confessed to but later recanted. Saberi recounted her story on Thursday’s edition of “All Things Considered” on NPR, one of the outlets for which she reported while in Iran.